City Revokes Lease Deals for 90ht ‘Idle Land’

ADDIS ABABA – The City administration of Addis Ababa is set to reclaim a total of 90,000 square meters of ‘Idle’ land leased out to individuals and institutions.

On Monday, City Mayor Adanech Abiebie announced that the decision has been made to revoke the lease agreements and reclaim the plots of land.

“This limited resource was leased out with anticipation that their investment will support the economy and create job opportunities for citizens,” the Mayor said.

The city’s decision to repossess the land came after a survey was conducted to assess whether the plots of land were utilized as per the lease contract.

Officials say some individuals and institutions engaged in the business of selling plots acquired through the lease to others after holding onto the land for years without meaningful investment.

The latest decision was made to put such illegal acts to an end, according to Adanech.

The 90,000 square meters plots of land are located in different parts of Addis Ababa under different names of individuals and institutions.

The lands that will be reclaimed were left undeveloped “for years” violating the lease law, said Kenea Yadeta, chief of the Land development and management office of the city in a press briefing on Monday.

The plots will be returned to the Addis Ababa Land Bank.

“The city will soon issue a tender to lease out the repossessed lands for developers,” said the land management office head.

The administration also gave until the end of the fiscal year for developers with building construction projects in the final stages but discontinued to finish up. “We will closely follow the status of these projects,” Kenea added.